The US is planning a $250 million joint offensive with Indonesia to curb the drift of students to Islamist boarding schools that breed terrorism and preach hatred of the West. Australia, which contributes $12 million to assist the formal school system in Indonesia, may also follow the US example in boosting its spending, pending the outcome of aid reviews by the World Bank and Asia Development Bank. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said there was a growing recognition that donors, including Australia, would have to focus more on education in Indonesia. Diplomatic sources suggested the US package to help Indonesia's 178,000 underfunded state and 12,000 West-tolerant Muslim-run schools was designed to improve the quality of teachers and education. The US wants to make so-called radical Islamist boarding schools, or pesantren - which are often cheaper than other kinds of schools and play strong roles in supporting local communities - less attractive to Indonesian parents. The extent of the problem at some schools was highlighted this week when Zakaria, principal of the Al-Islam School - one of the Jemaah Islamiah-linked schools where Bali bombers Ali Imron and Mubarok once taught - told The Australian the Bali bombings were "good", convicted terrorist Amrozi was a hero and the West was corrupt.
| Personally, my impulse would be to send teams to set explosives in as many of them as we could get close to, and marksmen to send their staff to Paradise by the direct route. Luckily for all of us, I'm not in charge... |
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